One of the historical problems with photographs taken by small handheld cameras is hand motion. Most people do not hold their camera perfectly steady, and often the depression of the activator button itself is sufficient to cause a jiggle. An image taken when the camera is not stable will generally exhibit unwanted characteristics such as blurriness, fuzziness and streaks.
Methods of measuring the motion of an object, such as accelerometers, are becoming more common. Accelerometers are being integrated into cameras and video recorders to provide motion data. In particular, mobile telephones often include cameras. Due to their light weight and unusual form factor, such mobile phone cameras are particularly likely to have blurry pictures due to the user's motion.
One prior art method of using motion data to improve image quality includes providing a floating lens or similar apparatus to compensate for the motion. Alternative methods include gyroscopes or other systems providing counter-movement to balance any hand motions accidentally made by a user. However, both of these solutions require large hardware elements, and specialized cameras.
Another prior art method attempts to correct the image taken after the fact, based on the accelerometer data. However, this is computing intensive, and can be impossible if there is not sufficient data to correct for the problems caused by the motion.